I, transformed into a vampire girl, sparked the Industrial Revolution.

Chapter 90 The Beginning of the Naval Arms Race

“Hero…this is our limit. In the past few centuries, the Church has never spent so much money on warships…”

Holy City-Goddess Bay, once a bustling harbor, now has few ships. That battle brought devastating damage to the Church's fleet. Not to mention ordinary ships, even behemoths like the "Goddess of Glory" sank into the cold sea.

The hero fought desperately to break through the encirclement and returned to the church's land with ten thousand defeated soldiers. The entire holy land was shaken. The hero's army was almost completely wiped out by the demons' offensive, and all of this was like a thunderbolt to them.

Once again, it was the Hero who stepped forward. The beautiful Hero debated with the crowd in the cathedral, describing in detail how the demons' terrifying fleet destroyed the church's ships and hunted down the church's Glory Goddess. He pointed out the key to all of this to his disciples—the navy.

"Fellow believers! Fellow believers of the Goddess! The only lesson we have learned in this war is that the navy will be the foundation of the future. On land, our brave and devout Holy Army fought to the last moment, but most of the naval transport force was sunk by demons. The Holy Army soldiers who were fortunate enough to land fought to the last moment, but the number of demons was three times that of our army. I led the troops to repeated defeats and had to withdraw from Brittany."

The hero's speech at the cathedral was regarded as the beginning of the church's naval armament construction. The Holy Navy received a large amount of funds and personnel. The church levied ship taxes and began to build a large number of first-class battleships of the same class as the Glory Goddess. A large amount of timber was transported from the church's three parishes, and the shore of Goddess Bay was full of keels under construction.

"Wouldn't building twenty-four battleships at the same time place too much of a burden on our people?"

Saintess Lilith was worried about the current situation, but the hero Bai Ling simply tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and parted his lips slightly: "If the people are enslaved by the demons, there will be no burden at that time. The great goddess will not have faith, and she will fall. I think the people will not be happy to see this scene."

Unseen by anyone, Bai Ling's lips curled into a sly smile—these third-rate battleships were nothing but clay chickens and earthenware dogs in her eyes, weren't they? But to the Church, they were like a layer of snow several meters thick on the roof!

"What? The Church's fleet was destroyed? And they're rebuilding it? Hahahaha!!!"

Burnia, an island nation south of the Church, is a small island nation with a passion for the sea. The island nation is mainly composed of humans, but also has a considerable number of orcs.

"Which country defeated the Church's invincible fleet? Hahaha, gentlemen, my lovely gentlemen of the Upper House, this is great news!"

Burnia has a bicameral system, consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The king of Burnia generally does not participate in affairs, but is nominally the ruler of Burnia.

"What? Demons? Didn't they split into two countries? Northern Demons? No wonder their goods are in high demand here."

"Your Excellency, the House of Lords has requested an emergency meeting; they are demanding an increase in naval spending!"

"Isn't that the power of the House of Commons?"

"My lord, the House of Commons has just passed the resolution to increase naval spending!"

"Damn it, this is a golden opportunity for us in Brunia! The Church's blockade is about to end!"

Just as Alice was leading the charge, preparing to participate in the attack on the Lasvia Empire, she was unaware that the impact of the Battle of Brittany was beginning to spread throughout the world; the Church's fleet had failed, and the Church's invincible fleet could no longer blockade the western ocean.

From Ameliasi to the Caliphate's desert empire, the Church's rule over the seas had ended. All nations began launching new fleets, preparing to vie for dominance of the seas. The Church's longing for the seas, suppressed for over a century, began to resurface among the nations.

The spread of gunpowder, cannons, and muskets became the sole voice of this revolution. The epoch-making gunpowder weapons changed the layout of warships and began to change the boundaries of the entire world.

A nation long oppressed, an empire growing increasingly unstable, a declining ruling class, rapidly evolving technological inventions, and changes in magical theories and magicians—no one could have imagined what this new era, established by Amelansi, would become.

"Your Excellency, General!"

"Mr. Lackman! I heard you've been promoted?"

"Oh, look at you, just a minor director at the Amerlane Naval Ship Design Bureau! It's not a lucrative position!"

"Oh my god, that's the ship design bureau! You know, our navy will be counting on you from now on!"

"Likewise, Your Excellency Admiral. You're not here today just to celebrate my minor job transfer. Of course I know that the new naval ship project personally approved by Her Majesty Alicia is a major undertaking!"

"Of course, how is our lovely young lady doing?"

"Well, the progress is encouraging, but we all know that such an epoch-making warship is not something that can be easily built. Damn it, I dare say that before us, no one has ever dared to build an ironclad warship!"

"That's not true! But as you know, our fleet can't maintain an absolute advantage. To be honest, my legs tremble just thinking about the church's giant warships!"

"Of course, but the church's bloated ships have no aesthetic appeal whatsoever. Piling gold, silver, and all sorts of precious gems on warships, and then having craftsmen carve out a huge statue of a god? Such things are only suitable for being moored in a bay for tourists to admire!"

"And we—Admiral Yug Lat—are pleased to introduce to you the Navy's main battleship for the next two years—the Minotaur-class ironclad battleship!"

With its massive hull lying across the dry dock, the Lachman Naval Shipyard has become an unprecedented behemoth, transforming from a small dock into a colossal structure with four dry docks capable of building ships of 10,000 tons and four dry docks capable of building ships of 1,000 tons.

The Minotaur-class ironclad battleships were wooden-hulled and iron-armored, 124 meters long and displaced tons. Only two of these massive battleships were originally designed for launch, but two Minotaur-class battleships have already been assembled in the shipyard and are currently being fitted out.

"Her parameters are so powerful, I can't even see any ships that could threaten her. The Feiyun-class ships are no match for her. Why are there only two planned?"

Yog Lat was somewhat puzzled that there were only two such warships, but the orders of the princess and the queen were not to be questioned. Perhaps it was a budget issue?

"Let me tell you quietly, Your Excellency, this is to make way for the navy's true main battleships... Have you ever considered warships made entirely of steel?"

"what?"

"You must not have seen the new orders from the design bureau and Her Majesty the Queen; they're probably still in your office—this way."

The two turned past several docks and arrived at an unprecedentedly huge factory. It was also a dry dock, but unlike the others, it was surrounded by layers of guards and sentries. Yug Lat even saw a new type of machine gun on the side—a real slaughtering machine.

"Let me introduce you to His Highness's true naval armament plan, a top secret—the Sovereign-class battleship!"

Under the magical light, the enormous steel skeleton lay there like a prehistoric behemoth. For the first time, Yog Lat saw the future, the future of the Navy.